Shipwrecks of the Wanneroo Coast
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
weeks later, on May 2 the ship’s anchor chain broke and Rocks Reef 2.4 kilometres from Eglinton Rocks. Delicate the unlucky vessel drifted to its present position, only 270 drinking glasses and other tableware from the wreck are HIPWRECKS OF THE metres from the same beach where it had been previously displayed at the Gloucester Lodge Museum at Yanchep. stranded. Eventually it was sold for scrap. In October 1969, An anchor and other artefacts can be seen at the Western a fire broke out while salvors were dismantling the hulk and Australian Museum Shipwreck Galleries in Fremantle. GPS SWANNEROO COAST they were forced to swim to safety. Over the last 30 years location 31° 38.54' S 115° 39.53' E. the wreck’s hull plating has collapsed, exposing the interior Lalla 1917 of the hold and the bridge. Due to the weakened state of the Introduction Built in 1874 in Nova Scotia, Canada as a three-masted European mariners visited the coast adjacent to the City hull structure, the wreck is not considered safe. wooden barque, the 1,087-tonne Lalla was converted for of Wanneroo long before the British established the Swan WH-301 Gemini 1993 use as a hulk in 1906. It was lost on August 17, 1917 while River colony in 1829. The earliest known wreck is the WH-301, also known as Gemini, was one of two identical being towed away for scuttling. The tow-line parted and the Dutch United East India Company ship, Vergulde Draeck, steel hopper barges built in 1962 and registered as WH–301 hulk disappeared somewhere off Halls Bank, pushed along that foundered in 1656. Only 75 crew reached shore with a and WH–302. In 1980 the 36.5 metre barges were joined by a strong south westerly wind. Iron framework and a few provisions. Seven sailed to Batavia for assistance, leaving to form a pontoon drill barge for a dredging company in section of decking that may be from Lalla lie 20 metres off 68 survivors stranded on a barren shore. Over the next few New South Wales. At a later date the ‘twins’ were separated Ocean Reef Beach, 1 km north of Ocean Reef Marina. In years, every VOC ship passing the Western Australian coast and eventually sold to Mr D. Ceray of Western Australia. 1913 the ship’s bell was presented to the Cottesloe Surf Life was ordered to search for signs of the castaways. In March In 1993 WH–301 Gemini was sold to a local charter boat Saving Club for use as a shark alarm. 1658, Abraham Leeman van Santwits, first officer and operator to create a recreational dive site for advanced Centaur 1874 navigator of Waeckende Boey and 13 sailors came ashore divers. The barge was towed by the Naval tug Tammar to a The 25-year–old iron brig Centaur was wrecked on near Wanneroo Beach where they found wreckage from site near Two Rocks Marina and scuttled. In the process of December 9, 1874 on Centaur Reef North Beach, (about 24 Vergulde Draeck but no sign of survivors. Unable to return sinking, the hull capsized and now lies on a sandy seabed in km north of Fremantle). It carried a cargo of 200 tonnes of to their ship because of foul weather, and abandoned by 30 metres of water. For more information about Gemini, galena (lead ore) and four passengers. Capt. Brabham gave the skipper of Waeckende Boey, Leeman set sail for Batavia please contact local charter operators. the order to abandon ship and in about 25 minutes, all hands in an overloaded open boat. He and three sailors survived Eglinton 1852 had taken to the boats. The 191–ton Centaur was built in the journey. A plaque on a limestone obelisk at the end of The three–masted wooden barque, Eglinton was built in Aberdeen in 1849. The wreck lies in the Marmion Marine Marcon Street Two Rocks, marks Leeman’s Landing, the Quebec, Canada in 1848. In April 1852 this fast and graceful Park, on the southern end of Centaur Reef at a depth of place where Leeman and his men came ashore. ship of 469 tonnes sailed from Gravesend, England under 7-9 metres. On the port side of the wreck, sections of iron the command of Capt. Bennett with 23 passengers and frames and hull plating stand 2 metres above the seabed. 20 crew. It was carrying a cargo of general merchandise Small amounts of galena can be seen scattered over the site. and a consignment of 65,000 gold sovereigns intended GPS location 31° 51.8' S 115° 42.66' E. for the Government of the struggling Swan River colony. For further information on historic shipwrecks contact the WA Museum Shipwreck Eight more passengers embarked at Capetown for the Galleries or the WA Heritage Council: http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/collections/maritime/march/march.asp voyage to Fremantle. As everyone aboard celebrated http://tourism.heritage.wa.gov.au the last night of the voyage, Eglinton struck an offshore By M. J. Lapwood, Year 10, Craigie Senior High School. Work experience, WA Museum, December 1992. Updated by Jessica Berry, Tracey Miller and Jessica Reynolds, reef, losing its rudder. Westerly winds drove the stricken WAM 2008. vessel over the first line of reef and onto another, 1 km inshore. Here, the vessel stuck fast. The ship’s guns were fired to raise the alarm but to no avail. The next morning the captain gave the order to abandon ship. Salvors made Diving notes Wrecks are often hazardous. Access to some wrecks requires a desperate attempts to retrieve the valuable cargo and all the boat. Divers need to be fit and qualified. Persons diving on these sites do sovereigns were recovered before the wreck was broken up so at their own risk. A diver must show a dive flag. Do not dive alone or by winter gales. A subsequent investigation revealed that leave the boat unattended. Persons diving on these wrecks do so at their Eglington artefacts own risk. These wrecks are part of Western Australia’s heritage. They are Twenty years before the arrival of the British settlers, this a navigational error and negligence on part of the captain protected under legislation. Please enjoy them but do not disturb them. region was visited by whalers. After the establishment of was responsible for the disaster. The wreck lies on Quinns 5 Back 1 the Swan River Colony, local settlers carried on a profitable built with the timbers salvaged from the ship. The hulk was of the ship’s gear including the wheel and bell could saved trade with the whalers, exchanging fresh meat and vegetables eventually burned by the owners of the Lindsay homestead, before the schooner sank in deep water some 55 km west of for whale oil, cloth and cash. It was not long before settlers angry because people were trespassing on their property in Yanchep. GPS location 31° 33.5' S 114° 53' E. started their own whaling operations. In 1849 Patrick order to reach the wreck. For much of the year it remains SS Alkimos 1963 Marmion employed four boats as whale chasers and built covered in sand but wreckage can be exposed after severe On March 20, 1963 the ill-fated Greek freighter and former a small whaling station in the area. It operated for about gales. Access to the beach is via a sand track to ‘The Spot’, Liberty ship, SS Alkimos struck a reef near Beagle Island, five years. The chimney of Marmion’s try works stood to a local surfing area. The wreck site can also be accessed by some 240 km to the north of Fremantle, while on a voyage the south of the existing Sorrento Surf Life Saving Club. It walking north along the beach from Club Capricorn. from Jakarta to Bunbury. This mishap was the start of a was a landmark for many years and was used as a navigation Klaraborg 1982 disastrous chain of events that saw the vessel impounded in beacon by local fishermen. Built in Sweden in 1852 as a Baltic trader, Klaraborg was Fremantle Harbour, run aground on two further occasions In early years the waters north of Fremantle were used as a reputed to have been the oldest ocean-going sailing vessel in and finally sold for scrap in the following year. Five days ship’s graveyard and the remains of many scuttled wrecks the world. The double-masted schooner was built of Baltic after running aground at Beagle Island Alkimos was freed are scattered along the Wanneroo coast. There are 15 pine over oak frames with an overall length of 36.5 metres. and towed into Fremantle for temporary repairs, only to be shipwrecks listed below in geographical order from north to In 1965 it was converted to a pleasure yacht for charter impounded in May for non-payment of debts. This matter south. Two of the vessels below have not been located and work. was quickly resolved and a tug was chartered to tow Alkimos three have not been positively identified. A GPS position is to Hong Kong for further repairs. The vessel finally left on given where the exact location of a wreck is known. May 30, but within hours of leaving Fremantle the tow-line snapped and gale force winds drove the ship ashore near Wreck Point, 56 km north of Perth. Alex T. Brown Klaraborg Alex T Brown 1917 The 130–year-old vessel left Fremantle, bound for Singapore Alkimos The 800-tonne Alex T Brown ran aground south of Wreck on July 13 with a crew of ten, three cats and a parrot.